I have a dillema and I can't seem to find a simple answer. I have a 92 civic dx with a d15b7 engine I/H/E and I cant seem to find another good engine reasonably priced to swap out. I was thinking about a d16z6 but I cant find any in my area and I dont want to have to have one shipped to me. Are there any options to pumping up the ponies in my engine without a swap or turbo? I have seen chips for sale on ebay for about 50 bux but I dont know if it would be worth it. I plan on autoxing this spring and summer and my car is just about set up for it now but it just lacks power. Would i just be wasting my time and money on a chip or what. My engine seems strong all the way to redline and it seems like it would make more if it could pull past 6750 rpm. the chip that im looking at puts the rev limiter at about 8000 rpm. Please people I really need some good advice not some smart *** bullsh@#. I just dont have alot of money to spend on the car, I'm married and I own a home and I have more important things to spend my money on rather than dropping 1500 bux for a b16a.
ANY HELP APPRECIATED!!!!!!!!

 

what gains will you be setle with ? if you just one something ok or do you want better performance all around !

 

also you could check out gude and the different set ups that there running ,i believe is gude.com(if im not mistaking )

 

id just like to have a little more power all across the board, right now im lackin in the bottom end but i make up for it in the higher revs, once again I dont have alot of money to spend and i dont want to NOS my poor little engine or any thing too wild
Id be happy with about 10-15 more horses.

 

you could try gude or webcam and see what cams they got. If you were to get a chip that had the rev limiter at 8 grand you might damage your engine because the dx valve train was no designed to take those kind of rpms. There are some peeps on this board that have done very good things with the dx engine, MrDX and Mista Bone. i know they can help.

 

first...
what HP does it have from new ???
what does it have now ??
what are the i/h/e you have ?!!?

DONT EVER use regrind !!!!...

 

People tend to think reprogrammed ecu's make more power. You might actually lose hp. There's no point having an ecu that redlines at 8-10k rpm, unless your motor makes power all the way up there. And if your motor isn't making enough power, only thing you might notice is poor gas mileage.

 

also i believe that gude does head work , so some good head work and a nice cam and a good ecu program to work with what you got done , some nice tunning and you should be set

 

I have an AEM short ram intake, DC sports 4-2-1 header, A custom made 2.25" exhaust system with an tanabe racing medallion muffler, I think the car has about 105 hp off the showroom floor and It may have about 115 now. I have a few other little mods like an adjustable fuel pressure regulator, Timing advanced to 22 degrees( I have to run at least 92 octane or it pings like a bitch), unorthodox underdrive crank pulley. This may sound stupid but here it goes anyways. One night me and my buddys were cruzin and a 99 si pulled up to the stop light next to me, We decided to have a go and I ended up winning, I pulled away from him in 2nd gear and never saw him again, Is this possible or not. Could he just be a sticker racer or what, My buddys thought I was pretty cool though. Also one of my buddys has an ACR neon with the DOHC 2.0 and I can spank him all day. I tend to think that my engine is a freak because it really does pull hard for a 1.5l.



[Modified by hondafrk, 12:06 PM 3/14/2002]

 

flywheel and f/d change maybe? Maybe look into the 5th gen. Si gearbox, I think the gearing is a little different. Thses aren't hp makers but any of them may help.

 

I was hoping for a little more help. Does anyone out there have a chip in their dx? Or any other worth while mods?

 

A chip would not help out your DX. An 8000rpm redline would not anything positive because I'm SURE that your 1.5L would stop making power above 6000rpm or so.

If you're stuck on that motor then I would say a cam and good valvetrain would be the trick.

What sucks is that you won't have many choices. Gude does make spretty good SOHC stuff, but do NOT talk to Mr. Gude himself because he lies horribly on the phone just to sell products.

A co-worker had a JG/Lightspeed cam in his old D16A6 CR-X Si motor and it was the best can he had out of the few that he ran, including the Gude/Bullfrog. The Gude idles like **** and to his *** dyno didn't pull as well as his Lightspeed cam.

With any set-up like that tuning is the key. An adjustable camgear and a fuel pressure regulator along with a fuel management like an Apex-i AFC would be nice.

Only after you have a cam and such would you possibly NEED another ECU.

Let me also add a GOOD headjob (heh) would make a world of difference too. A REPUTABLE shop should do the work - one that you KNOW has done Hondas before. The local Chevy guy probably isn't the best guy to do that sort of work.

I would recommend shops like JG Racing, PYR, Portflow, etc. but I'm sure others will have others too. Every shop makes mistakes, those above included, so if someone has bad **** to say about those shops then in the end use your best judgement.

Hope that helps a little.

BTW: The Si/EX tranny wouldn't be a bad idea since the gears are closer


[Modified by B18C5-EH2, 12:46 AM 3/17/2002]

 

i have a 1.5 ... all that he said above is good but...
my rev limit is 6800... and has max HP at 6500.. !?! so with a cam and headjob...
you will even more push the MAX hp 2 the top = you really need rev limit at like 7400 or so... and with the right valve springs and retainers... it would be ok !!
and you will have a *** kicking DX .... but would think of buyin a reel good exhaust and manifold !! like supersprint... !?!!!! http://www.supersprint.com ...

 

want to make it quicker with what youve got?
i suggest u find mr. bone
did 15.00 all day with i/h/e d15b7..

look into a good aftermarket cam..jg zex gude etc etc..or..the stock yes stock 88-91 Si cam will make a lil difference and help a bit in your motor. along with ajustable cam gear and fpr u should be able to make some subtle progress.

try a y8 gasket..bump the comp up. y8 intake manifold is nice too.
all kinds of lil tips and hacks u could try with oem parts.. u wanna get down and dirty the cheap way? d15 block u have..get some used zc pistons..get a used sohc vtec head.

find an ex tranny...make a close ratio "race" tranny like bone did using various gears from sohc ...this would definately be good for your auto x application

 

hehe here I am..........
unchipped D15B7 with easy bolt-ons......

and a CRX Si cam. Might have made more power above 6800 rpm, but torque was falling fast.

about 135 hp from a 102 hp motor with just bolt-ons

 

I knew Mista Bone would be here soon...

 

Thanks for all your help guys, I think that ill try to upgrade my valvetrain first and then go from there. You guys helped alot now I wont be wasting money on the chip.

 

Mista Bone and B18C5-EH2 to the rescue, good info, good words!

 

You said 10-15 hp and you would be happy...

I didint see anyone put this...but I know people mentinoed about GUDE cams and JG...

But what about ZEX street/strip cam or the Crower Cams..those would give you the desired power you are looking for...
http://www.zex.com http://www.crower.com

 

Ok Ive heard some mention about the 88-91 Si cam. How much of a difference would that make? Does it have to come out of a CRX or a civic or does it matter? I found a brand new si head on ebay with a new cam in it and the auction is only at 50 bux with one day left. What do you guys think? would the si cam help me out enough or what?

 

ttt